Another brand I have been looking into as a maybe for my college photo shoot is Wheels and Dollbaby. I don’t have anywhere near as many garments by Wheels as I do Cue but I do have a sister who is a huge fan. Combine her collection and my few items and I may just have something I can work with. For now though I have quickly collected a few images for inspiration in terms of the way poses would be done. All photos have been taken from the Wheels and Dollbaby website or Instagram account.
It’s nearly that time of year again, Spring time! Which means time for another wardrobe re-vamp, well hopefully. Last seasons wants list didn’t get very far, my funds have more been dedicated to partying than clothing. Not necessarily a bad thing considering the lack of space I have in my wardrobe. But spring is probably my favourite fashion season, even though I won’t wear very many of the floral patterns that seem to dominate this season every year. Spring time may be the rise of floral patterns every year but it’s also the time of year I manage to wear the majority of my wardrobe. Spring weather generally allows me to wear everything from raincoats and gumboots, to shorts, culottes, pants and even sundresses at times. This season is all about Australian brands for me, this January saw my Australian brands expand in my wardrobe with my family getting me clothing from C/MEO Collective, Finders Keepers and N/Nicholas.
I have always been more of a vintage shopper, and in recent months Vinnies and Salvos stores have been the only clothing stores I walk out of purchasing things. But after my time at Vogue where I saw all the new collections room the most amazing Australian labels, I realize the something that is missing from my wardrobe is more Australian labels. So I hope you enjoy a little insight to my hopeful Spring wardrobe, I know I’m going to have my work cut out for me trying to get it all. Oh the breaking of my bank.
Enjoy!
GORMAN
– http://www.gormashop.com.au
C/MEO COLLECTIVE
– cmeocollective.com
FINDERS KEEPERS
– finderskeepersthelabel.com.au
BACKSTAGE LABEL
– backstage.clothing
THE FIFTH LABEL
– thefifthlabel.com
AANA JANAKIS
– aanajanakis.com
* All images taken from brands respective websites.
So it’s time to try my hand at a styling my own photo shoot, just something small and simple. But first step is to gather inspiration for a mood board.
Due to the shoot being for my college, I do have a few outlines I have to follow. The first outline is to have the shoot be for the one brand, I have chosen Cue Clothing. A brand which takes up about half of my wardrobe, now I just need to figure out who I can get to model it well. But for now here are some photos I have gotten from Cue’s Instagram account to inspire the poses I will do during my shoot. The shoot will be done in studio, most likely to a plain white back ground, so ignore any setting in the inspo photos and just focus on the poses used. I do really enjoy the photo with cords laying on the ground and dangling over the back drop and will consider incorporating something similar into my shoot.
Enjoy!
The best part of summer? Swimming and the beach I say, which means it’s time to find the perfect swimwear for any occasion. To me this means finding three different cosies, and everyday bikini, a full suit and a cosie that is a little bit more statement worthy. Some years I will only buy one new set of swimmers, but this year my choices at home are far too limited, it’s time for a re-vamp.
Most years I will go to my local shopping centre and end up with something from Seafolly, Jets or Tigerlily. This year I decided to steer towards some new brands and actually go out of my way to search for the perfect pairs of swimmers. Luckily I got to handle a lot of different swimwear brands thanks to my time at Vogue, and by the time I needed to buy swimwear I had a whole list of new brands to look through that I had never heard of before. This opened up a whole new set of possibilities, did I want wetsuit style from Duskii, or maybe something dainty from Marysia, or even some crazy printed graphics from We Are Handsome. I do love the idea of something from Duskii like a leopard print bikini, or maybe a graphic printed full suit by We Are Handsome, or even their gorgeous flamingo printed bikini. Whether it’s graphic prints, wetsuit style, or even something a little bit more dainty, this list is bound to have something you are looking for.
Enjoy!
EPHEMERA
EPHEMERA is a swimwear brand focused on beautiful cut, superior fabrication and interesting colour combinations. – Visit their website at ephemeralive.com
MARYSIA
A luxury swimwear brand that epitomises poolside style. The line, launched in 2009, eschews trendy prints and typical cuts for perfectly executed silhouettes in premium fabrics. – Visit their website at marysiaswim.com
FELLA SWIMWEAR
FELLA swimwear is a fusion between luxury lingerie and activewear, made to order out of high quality Italian fabrics. Uniquely refined Australian design, with rebellious sensibility and unassuming sensuality. – Visit their website at fellaswim.com
WE ARE HANDSOME
We Are Handsome is defined by it’s impeccable quality, innovative prints, striking colour palettes and neoteric feminine shapes all lovingly crafted, wrapped in sophistication and transcendent of seasons. – Visit their website at wearehandsome.com
MADE BY DAWN
From the heart and mind of Hawaii-born designer Dawn Peterson, Made by Dawn embodies the essence of paired back coastal living through fresh silhouettes and exclusive fabrics. Cofounded by her and her husband Kirk, Made by Dawn flows intuitively, elaborating on elemental themes with each collection. – Visit their website at madebydawn.com
DUSKII
Crafted using the highest quality neoprene, Duskii offers the seasoned paddler, swimmer, surfer, diver, sailor or lounger mix-and-match suits and separates that are simulateously light, warm, thin, supple and stretchy. – Visit their website at duskii.com
* I ended up purchasing the bikini top in the above picture but with the bikini bottoms in the two below picture. And I must say I am absolutely amazed at my purchase and it’s great fit as well as practicality.
FOR LOVE & LEMONS SWIMWEAR
With a unique eye for design, For Love & Lemons has created swimwear styles that are recognised instantly. They are consistently raising the bar with custom made lace and engineered placement embroidery – For Love & Lemons designs stand out in the crowd. – Visit their website at shop.forloveandlemons.com
* All images and words taken from respective brands websites.
Now we all know the traditional Christmas colours are red and green with white thrown in places, and every year I fall into that space with my choice in Christmas wardrobe. Usually I would opt for something almost comical, last year I managed to find a handmade long velvet dress that was decorated with sparkly Christmas holly. It was a little big, and to be honest a little different to my usual choices, but pair it with some red bowed wedges and my favourite addition, the leopard print Santa hat with holly on the end. I know my Santa hat doesn’t sound all too Christmassy but years ago I was obsessed with leopard and managed to find this Santa hat in the city. Since finding it over 7 years ago I have managed to wear it every year, which is surprising consider I thought I would have lost it by year 2. One thing I love to do during December, before Christmas rolls around, I love to wear Christmas accessories everyday in the lead up to the 25th. One thing you should know about my mother is she looooooves Christmas so naturally my house has a hell of a lot of Christmas themed earrings and broaches floating around. Some years I have chosen not to embrace the Christmas accessories, but this year I did, while interning for Vogue. And man did they all get a kick out of it, I got many complements on my novel Christmas accessories.
This is how Christmas has influenced my style every year, and every year I end up with something new. This year I bought a very cute pair of tiny Santa hat clips, clips that I would sit in my Leya style buns. More excitedly than that though is my Christmas edition Kate Spade Toadstool Handbag, a gift form my lovely sister. It is the most gorgeous bag I own, even beats the vintage Louis Vuitton bags. It’s the perfect party bag and with the red of the leather its a great accessory for the Christmas party season. Those of us who adore fashion can’t resist the thrill of December and with it the roll-call of epic parties, and it’s because every soirée begins with one thing: the joy of dressing up.
One of the other reasons I love Christmas time, though I am not that fond of the day it’s self, is the amazing window and visual merchandising displays. This year I sadly didn’t get much time to go shopping and check out all the amazing Christmas themed displays in the city. But I did manage to check out Bergdorfs via their Instagram, man are they gorgeous. And this year I actually got to assist with a few Christmas themed VM displays thanks to Lifestyle Looks and the lovely Tracy Moores.
Lets have a little chat about visual merchandising. For me visual merchandising is not only fun and enjoyable its also a career path. So far I have tried my hand at a few different kinds of VM work, mostly with home wares but I have had a little experience with fashion visual merchandising. My first experience was during my classes at Orana where they taught us to dress mannequins for VM displays, as well as how to display products like a professional. With that knowledge I felt a lot more comfortable going into work place training for visual merchandising.
The first WPT opportunity I got was to dress mannequins for Westfield Miranda with the lovely Nicola Bates, one of Westfield’s amazing stylists. It was a lot harder positioning the clothing on the mannequins than I originally thought, the itty bitty of making sure the shoe laces match, or that the jewellery is all the same sort of style when you have to get it from a multitude of stores, these things seem easier on paper. It was a lot of fun though and I do hope to do more VM work like that in the near future.
The other experience I have had is with the company Lifestyle Looks, which entails VM displays with home wares mainly. The tiny details that go into VM displays, even if it revolves around big items such as beds and couches, it’s all a very intricate process, it has taught me a lot about noticing the little things, after all it is visual merchandising and if the zipper is showing on a cushion it could just be the end of the world. It has also taught me a boat load about communicating with people, a lot of the work involves speaking with store owners and managers, something which previously I have had issues with. Speaking with these people is something that could be considered a delicate process considering we are borrowing products they wish to later sell, products that we have the responsibility of caring for and arranging in a way that entices onlookers to enter the store and ask about the product. I will admit the hardest part for me was the time I accidentally broke two vases with the combined worth of $60 and freaked out because it was maybe the second time I had worked with this company and I wasn’t 100% sure about the policy for WPT students breaking products. Lucky for me my boss, Tracy Moores is a lovely and understanding person and helped me deal with the mess, even telling me stories of how al the girls she has working for her have done this many times before, accidents happen.
I have a long way to go until I will be doing displays by myself, but for now I will build my confidence while working with the amazing team at Lifestyle Looks. Here are a few photos of displays I have had the opportunity to assist with.
LIFESTYLE LOOKS
WESTFIELD MIRANDA
So I think we have all had the wish to dress like a Vegas show girl right? Well I finally got the chance to when I convinced my best friend to throw a Vegas themed 21st earlier this year. At first I looked around and tried to find something I could purchase and put together and after nearly deciding on a Wheels and Dollbaby jewelled corset with the matching jewelled satin booty shorts, I ended up deciding on making the feather bustle myself and using a corset from home with my sequinned gold booty shorts from Woodford. So pretty much all of the outfit was able to be picked out of my wardrobe, aside from the copious amounts of diamonds and feather bustle, which is probably the most important part of the showgirl outfit. The diamonds were easy to acquire, lucky for me Colette was having a 40% off most of the jewellery, which coincidentally included all of the diamanté jewellery. So I may have spent around one hundred dollars on lovely jewellery, but I will wear it again and it included everything from hair pieces and chokers, to earrings and sparkly body jewels. With that covered the only part left was the feather bustle something that had to be perfect. The first logical step was Google images, the second was how to videos on YouTube. After ingesting all of that information I devised a plan of how to make the best feather bustle in the easiest way, all it involved was a whoooooole bunch of feather boas, a small bustle tutu (optional) and some fishing line. I only had the one feather boa at home so I ended up going out and buying one of all the colours I deemed necessary for a rainbow feather bustle skirt. This included one pink, red, orange, yellow, dark green, lime green, bright blue, pale blue and a two tone purple one. Basically I lined them all up in the order I stated, minus the two tone purple, and folded each one over the fishing line so that it had a short length on top and folded over to a longer length behind giving it a little extra oomph. One by one each was then simply tied to a length of fishing line with just one knot, some having to be cut to suit the length of the majority. After that was completed I then tied to fishing line with the feathers attached securely to the ribbon of my rainbow bustle skirt ( which is short and consists of tiered lengths of coloured tutu) and tied at around my hips. The final touches where to tuck in the two toned purple boa so it fell nicely over the back of my bustle, and add my already owned red boa to the front of my hips so as to cover where my bustle tied up at the front. Pair that with a sheer black corset from none other than the amazing Honey Birdette, a pair of fully sequin booty shorts, some sick ass fishnets and a boat load of diamon jewellery complete with a hair piece. I truly channelled my inner show girl with this one, and it wasn’t too hard of an outfit to make! I hope this helps anyone who wants to make their own Vegas show girl costume, or even a legendary Mardi Gras costume, I know that’s where I will be wearing it next year.
This first photo was taken just after finishing the feather bustle.
This last photo, kindly taken hostage by my mates dad Bogdan, is of when I was at the party.
It has now been nearly a year since starting my fashion course and joining the fashion industry. I can clearly remember my first work place training opportunity, it was working at Sydney Fashion Weekend last year and entailed me being a sort of promotional girl. I walked around for a whole day with a giant Instagram post cutout, like a Polaroid frame in cardboard, asking people if they would like to take a photo inside of it and upload it to Instagram for a chance to win a whole bunch of coconut water, the product we were promoting. I also gave out a WHOLE bunch of free coconut waters, and even though it was some what confronting and a little embarrassing at first, I ended up really enjoying it and spent every second being as enthusiastic as can be regardless of my feelings towards it. Since that first amazing opportunity I have had the chance to intern at Vogue, assist with visual merchandising in Westfield as well as Supacentres, I have also had the chance to assist with a few small runway shows. The first being with Yvonne Wallace for Westfield, the second was assisting to the lovely Tracy Moores from Lifestyle Looks with a small runway show during the Spring Racing season last year. But I am getting ahead of myself, let’s take it back to Vogue, my first long term internship.
Starting in June last year, my internship at Vogue lasted just over 7 months, resulting in me also rising to the position of senior intern (along with one other girl) after my first 3 months in the fashion cupboard. Vogue houses a lot of interns, some are in the beauty department, some are in editorial. But the majority, and I’m talking easily 20, are with the fashion team and mainly located within the fashion cupboard. I must say I feel extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity to intern with the fashion team at Vogue, let alone having been given the responsibility of being senior intern. A title that basically means I had to be the contact between the interns and our supervisor, the lovely Kaila who’s title is Fashion Cupboard Coordinator. Essentially it meant all non senior interns were to come to me with any questions or problems, then most of the time I would help them myself otherwise I would be the one to go to Kaila for help. It was a job I was a little iffy about at first as it meant being in charge of the other interns, making sure they are taught correctly and constantly working efficiently. At times I would have to confront an intern about a mistake they had made and re teach them correctly, and at first it was scary as I saw myself as on the same level as every other intern, but eventually I realised it was teaching me a lot about communication.
The communication skills I gained during my time at Vogue are something I am very grateful for, it is probably one of the most valuable things I was taught. I am quite an anxious and awkward person, especially around new people or those with authority. Being in the Vogue office, especially as a senior intern, forced me out of my shell and into a mode I didn’t know I had before this, a teaching mode. Vogue is constantly getting new interns in to help, and by the time I had been there for a month, I was the person Kaila would pair the new interns with when possible. This would entail them following me around for the day like glue and me explaining my tasks and the rules as I go, after two days of this they would be allowed to take on duties I had taught them but I would still have to double check their work for one day and only then would they be allowed to do work entirely solo. By the end of my time at Vogue I had been told many times by interns and fashion team members that I was a very good teacher and an absolute pleasure to work with. I also had the majority of the interns comment on the fact that they preferred working with me to the other senior intern as I tended to talk about what I was doing as I went making it easier for them to learn as well as help me remember any tasks I was speaking about, and most importantly they said I was calm and dealt well with problems and stressful busy days unlike my other half. That surprised me, I have always felt I was a bit of a stress head and was sure it showed but turns out in a work setting I’ve got my shit sorted.
As our duties are generally to help with the comings and goings of the fashion cupboard or assist on photo shoots if your lucky enough, it means we are generally the ones dealing with the checking in and out of clothes as well as preparing things to go out for shoots. A constant stream of garments always arrived, with five stylists in the office shoots were being held all the time and all over the place. Some photo shoots were huge, one I got the privilege of being a part of went for 3 days in the rainy Blue Mountains and we got to stay in a beautiful big old house. Then some can be small, such as the portrait done of double bays best hairdresser. Lastly there were all the days doing still life and flat lay product shots, something I very much enjoyed learning about, it’s a much more intricate process than I originally thought. I never really did think about the product photos in magazines much, but they are one of the biggest parts of the publication. I mostly enjoyed watching the stylists position the jewellery, fishing line, fine pointed screwdrivers, Perspex shapes and blutak are all necessary items to help position the products correctly and get that perfect shot. At times it could take half an hour just to position a single necklace with the perfect curve in its chain, or to enter twine 3 Tiffany & Co. bangle while also making them look as if they are hovering mid air.
It was on my second still life shoot that I got to position a few garments all by myself, one garment being a navy pair of sheer Dion Lee palazzo style pants, and man was it harder than the stylists made it look. In the end I got them in a flattering spot, so nice in fact that the stylist was happy with my choice of positioning and didn’t re shoot. One thing I am very proud of is the time I layed out all of the Canturi jewellery for a still life shoot. We were short on bench space at the time and I didn’t seem to have enough felted jewellery trays but still jewellery kept arriving to set from a multitude of different stores, so to make them all fit I had to get creative with my positioning. There was this one very colourful, jewelled, collar style necklace which was just to die for, but sadly didn’t appear to fit on any of the trays easily. I decided the most efficient way to place it without damaging it in any way was to place it in a spiral position, not long after having done that the stylist came over looking to photograph the necklace. She looks at the trays spotting the Canturi necklace I had just placed down and turned to me asking who it was that placed the necklace in a spiral position, I admitted it was me thinking that maybe I had done something wrong. What she had to say wasn’t bad though all she wanted to say was that it was beautifully positioned and proceeded to place it and photograph the necklace in the same spiral position. I must say I have never been so happy to see an idea of mine used.
It has been a month now since leaving Vogue, and I must say I do miss it. I’m thankful for all I have learnt, the contacts I made and the styling team for accepting me like I was one of their own. I have been called by the tea to come in and help on shoots since leaving and I can’t express just how much I appreciate the fact they think so highly of my work that they still call. It was a time I will always be looking back on fondly as it taught me so much more than I could ever have hoped for. So thank you to all the girls I worked so closely with at Vogur, the interns and Vogue team a like.
Now I am looking onwards and upwards and straight into visual merchandising. I mentioned Tracy Moores earlier, she is the owner of one amazing company called Lifestyle Looks. A company which specialises in styling, event management and visual merchandising. Turns out she is a local Cronulla girl and my great Aunty Carol is great friends with Tracy’s mother. Just to add a little more to the coincidences going on, Tracy is also the person to have taught Yvonne Wallace so much of what she knows, it’s an amazingly small world in the Shire. Point is as soon as I saw the email for WPT with her name on it I jumped at the possibility to work with her. After doing two seperate days work with Tracy I focused on Vogue for a while and couldn’t handle much else for a while there. But after Vogue had finished, the first thing I did was email Tracy hoping she would have some interning for me. Soon enough I was getting WPT about 4-6 time a month for the next two months. This mainly involved visual merchandising displays for Supacentres (Homemakers Centres) which entails displaying a stores products in pods or on stages with in the centre. This means going to stores in the centre, sometimes with a pre decided theme such as Easter and always with a specific colour scheme, and collecting items to put in Perspex pods or upon stages placed in the centre. I must say it is a lot of in doing visual merchandising, though it is not without its difficulties. I’ve lost track of how many times I have had to run back to stores and completely re design the pods because one item is too big or too tall to fit in. One of the best parts though? Give me two weeks and I start getting paid for my work! I made it, a paid job in the industry I want. Right now I couldn’t think of anything better.
A shot from my Instagram account taken when I finished my time with Vogue. The magazine is a Vogue Mandarin supplement and one of the last covers I got the assist with before leaving, the note was given to me by the Vogue styling team along with the candle.
Pretty self explanatory.
Looks like I have completed number 4! I have picked up a job with a visual merchandising company called Lifestyle Looks. Which means number 2 is being completed as I go.
And it’s looks like number 5 has been thrown out the window, can’t even find my watch.
It’s taken me a while by I’ve finally compiled my summer wants list, I was going to say need but then I will get too much of an attachment to it and I know I won’t be able to afford all of this. Hopefully though I will be able to get some of these things before summer is up. It’s a real eclectic list of items ranging from Cue to Seed Heritage, PREEN by Thornton Bregazzi and Kate Spade NY, and includes things like chunky chokers, mouse shaped purses, lots of flares and sparkly sneakers. I guess there is quite of few things and it’s going to take a while but let’s just hope I can manage to get at least some.
Enjoy!
OXYDO – $113.95
OXYDO – $236.95
OXYDO – $236.95
PREEN BY THORTON BREGAZZI
Bouquet 2 – £150
PREEN BY THORNTON BREGAZZI
Soto – £170
PRADA
Minimal Baroque Black Polarised Sunglasses – $440
NERIDA WINTER
NADIA – $175
WINDSOR SMITH
SEED HERITAGE
KATE SPADE NY
KATE SPADE NY
KATE SPADE NY
TOMMY HILFIGER
CUE
CUE
CUE
CUE
CUE
CUE
CUE
CUE
SEED HERITAGE
BEC & BRIDGE
C’est La Vie Shirt and Pants
BEC & BRIDGE
Astral Dancer Gown – $700
BEC & BRIDGE
Phoenix Flare – $200
BEC & BRIDGE
C’est La Vie Jacket – $198.80
LEE MATHEWS
Geo Apron Dress
LEE MATHEWS
Obi Belt
AJE
Harlow Mini – $390
Labelle Top – $350
WILLOW
Metal Leather Neckpiece – $195
WILLOW
Double Leather Rope Belt – $295
WILLOW
Leather and Chain Halter Belt – $395
WILLOW
Leather Obi Belt – $195
CHRISTIE NICOLAIDES
ADARA Earrings – $179
CHRISTIE NICOLAIDES
ARIES Earrings – $179
CHRISTIE NICOLAIDES
ASTERIA Earrings – $229
CHRISTIE NICOLAIDES
ATRIA Earrings – $169
CHRISTIE NICOLAIDES
LUNA Earrings – $179
CHRISTIE NICOLAIDES
NOVA Earrings – $219
C'est La Vie Styling 